Texas Tech Red Raider Mascot & Imaginary

[Matt]

I'm not saying UND could have prevented the imagery that was used in this case, or in future cases for that matter. I'm saying if they want to keep the name, and again I have my doubts about that, they need to take proactive steps with their opponents so they are aware of the sensitive nature of the situation. It's like putting a "DO NOT USE IN BATHTUB" warning on the hairdryer. It won't keep idiots from doing it, but becuause someone got sued before, now the manufacturer has to warn against forseeable misuse of the product. Unfortunately its become the burden of using a NA nickname. Otherwise I say the UND admin just sucks it up and deals with it.

[Goon]

It still adds up to, we can't control what other entities or institutions or fans or students do.

I agree its also constitutionally protected so we really can't do anything about it.

[Big A HG]

After thinking about it, and debating back and forth in my own mind about whether or not I approve of the imagery, I find that I'm ok about it.

Everyone has the same goal in athletics, to win. Does this imagery help a team win? No...but the mindset about wanting to beat your opponents is nothing new and every team finds ways to depict their opponents in a negative mindset. UND does it with anyone they play in recognizable sports, so it's somewhat hypocritical to think otherwise when it comes to the TT situation. Does UND itself publicly depict imagery like this for our opponents? Not in recent memory (other than the Jumbotron-gate against Minnesota last season in hockey with the bubble thoughts pictured above Gopher players, and even then it didn't put down their logo, just their athletes, which is worse in the situation). But, the entire fanbase is relentless when it comes to teams like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, North Dakota State, etc.

Also, their mascot caricature is no better in terms of the southern, old-west style stereotyping. It's an old, ugly dude with a nasty porn stache that has a chip on his shoulder and has somewhat of a drunk attitude to him. Any caucasian could as easily be offended by that, but aren't.

Do I enjoy seeing our team depicted the way they did in Lubbock? No. But, what they did wasn't wrong in my opinion either. I understand the PC sensitivity on the matter, but as a school, we have to expect these things and not take them seriously. All we can do at UND is help better that image of Native Americans across the US (and Canada), but not force our ideas upon them, especially over something that wasn't all that bad. It sounds harsh, and that's not my intent, but it's just my opinion.

The bigger the deal we make of the situation, the worse the nickname looks. If we said, "ok, cool, they have to go to the lengths of putting down a new D1-AA school to make themselves look better while we collect a paycheck, great!" If anything, it makes the nickname seem more intimidating since they went the direction they did in trying to put it down (doesn't make sense, I know, but think about it).

Anyways, I hope something like this doesn't do as much harm as it seems it could because I don't think the issue is that big. If UND, it's fans, it's athletes, it's supporters all come together and stand strong about what WE believe, issues like this shouldn't matter.

One more thing in a lenthy opinion....think about the saying "Go Sioux!" and what that really means when thousands and thousands of people say it over and over for every home athletic event. Everytime someone utters that phrase, they are putting their full emotion into support of a whole nation of people, and if some people refuse to see that, it's unfortunate.

[dagies]

After thinking about it, and debating back and forth in my own mind about whether or not I approve of the imagery, I find that I'm ok about it.

Everyone has the same goal in athletics, to win. Does this imagery help a team win? No...but the mindset about wanting to beat your opponents is nothing new and every team finds ways to depict their opponents in a negative mindset. UND does it with anyone they play in recognizable sports, so it's somewhat hypocritical to think otherwise when it comes to the TT situation. Does UND itself publicly depict imagery like this for our opponents? Not in recent memory (other than the Jumbotron-gate against Minnesota last season in hockey with the bubble thoughts pictured above Gopher players, and even then it didn't put down their logo, just their athletes, which is worse in the situation). But, the entire fanbase is relentless when it comes to teams like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, North Dakota State, etc.

Also, their mascot caricature is no better in terms of the southern, old-west style stereotyping. It's an old, ugly dude with a nasty porn stache that has a chip on his shoulder and has somewhat of a drunk attitude to him. Any caucasian could as easily be offended by that, but aren't.

Do I enjoy seeing our team depicted the way they did in Lubbock? No. But, what they did wasn't wrong in my opinion either. I understand the PC sensitivity on the matter, but as a school, we have to expect these things and not take them seriously. All we can do at UND is help better that image of Native Americans across the US (and Canada), but not force our ideas upon them, especially over something that wasn't all that bad. It sounds harsh, and that's not my intent, but it's just my opinion.

The bigger the deal we make of the situation, the worse the nickname looks. If we said, "ok, cool, they have to go to the lengths of putting down a new D1-AA school to make themselves look better while we collect a paycheck, great!" If anything, it makes the nickname seem more intimidating since they went the direction they did in trying to put it down (doesn't make sense, I know, but think about it).

Anyways, I hope something like this doesn't do as much harm as it seems it could because I don't think the issue is that big. If UND, it's fans, it's athletes, it's supporters all come together and stand strong about what WE believe, issues like this shouldn't matter.

One more thing in a lenthy opinion....think about the saying "Go Sioux!" and what that really means when thousands and thousands of people say it over and over for every home athletic event. Everytime someone utters that phrase, they are putting their full emotion into support of a whole nation of people, and if some people refuse to see that, it's unfortunate.

The more I looked at that I was thinking what if the roles were reversed? What if the Native American was in the position of the TT icon, and vice versa. Would that be any better? Would we complain then? One of my problems with this whole issue is the idea that this is ok with whitey but it's not ok with anyone else. I get the "repressed minority" argument but I'm not sure that I buy that as a valid reason for differentiation. But that's just me.